Deus Ex: Human Revolution Interview

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Sequel buzz already? Youbetcha.

By Patrick Kolan

Quietly gathering momentum in the background, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is building to be one of the most impressive games of the coming year. In this discussion, held recently at Gamescom in Cologne, we spoke with the game's director, Jean-Francois Dugas and Producer David Anfossi about a few of our nagging questions.

IGN AU: Two things we noticed during our time with Deus Ex: Human revolution is that the violent option appears to be the fastest route through the level. Are you concerned about players opting to take the easy route and speed through the game? Also, are there any implications for wasting dozens of police officers?

Jean-Francois Dugas: Actually, he had infinite ammo and was invincible during the demo – and he still died several times! [laughs], He died! So, we don't see it—but in the police station, if you really want to use the violent approach, be ready to beef up your character and have strong weapons, because you're going to die. If you manage to succeed, of course, your boss is going to be mad, but since he's kind of controlling the city, he's going to be able to call the right people and make sure that you're not being hanged or beheaded or something like that. Also in the news (in the game), it's described as a" stranger breaking into a police facility". We have that kind of feedback that ties into the game world as well.

At the same time, because it's a game, we wanted to have it tie back so you can recover from your mistakes and experimentation – so at a certain point there's a limit to it. But we're trying to keep it within the game as much as possible.

While players can still run and gun their way through an area, don't expect it to be a cakewalk.

IGN AU: Take us through the design and concept behind the hacking minigame. Was it always intended to be a strategy-style experience? How does this complexity affect the pace of the game?

Jean-Francois Dugas: Yeah – we wanted it to be engaging in the sense that it's not 'Oh, I levelled up – so I press a button and it does it all, and there's no risk' kind of thing. We wanted to have a kind of tension within the network you hack yourself. Also, as you might or might not have noticed, you're also still inside the game world.

IGN AU: So it's happening in real-time within the game environment?

Jean-Francois Dugas: Exactly – so if you're detected and people start shooting at you, you have to pull away and defend yourself. So that's one thing. Networks themselves – there ones with different modes, different attributes that make them harder or easier –and depending on the level of the programs within your hacking augmentation, then it's going to make it harder or easier. Within the networks you can also find some goodies that make it harder or easier and that you can use within other hacking sessions – things like that. So it's quite a comprehensive minigame within the game.

IGN AU: The original game had a heavy undercurrent of black market Augs and illegal modifications. Can you talk a little bit about how that works – if at all – within the context of Human Revolution?

Jean-Francois Dugas: In this game, not as much – it's more looming; it's a new industry. There are starting to be adepts and everything and there are people who are still asking 'Oooh, is that right? Should we do that?' It disrupts society with the haves and have-nots. What was more important was to establish it in the normal world – and we touch on the black market in some point in the game. When it's very marginal, there's not much of it – but when it grows, the black market comes into it.

So, in the future game or what not – if we were to do a sequel, it would be something we would explore a little bit more. –If we were to make a sequel! [laughs]

While the black market may still factor into the story, it sounds like a sequel might focus more on this area.

IGN AU: Nice cover, guys! Smooth.

Jean-Francois Dugas: [laughs] You never know – maybe we're very grumpy and we say no!

IGN AU: The first game allowed you to complete it without killing anyone. Is that still possible in Human Revolution?

Jean-Francois Dugas: Yes – minus the boss fights.

IGN AU: Minus the boss fights? But if you've been honing your sneak skills the whole time, won't you be at a combat disadvantage during these encounters? How do you balance that?

Jean-Francois Dugas: We don't penalize the players. You don't need a specific augmentation or gun for the job; obviously if you're the kind of guy who runs around with a pistol and a few bullets, you're going to find it less interesting [laughs], but in the levels, we're still making sure you have the economy in place so that you can figure out how to deal with that. And we build the levels in such a way that, if you have this or that augmentation, it can be helpful – but it's not mandatory, and it doesn't make the boss fight hellish or whatnot.

We're making sure that players – with their own playing style and the choices they make – aren't penalized for those choke-point moments.

The third installment of the strategic RPG / first-person shooter by Eidos. The decisions you take and the choices you make will be the only things that can determine mankind's future in this conspiracy-filled sci-fi epic.